The present invention relates to computing systems, and deals more particularly with integrating mind mapping technology with a case management system to generate a case model.
Case management systems are known in the art, and provide automated techniques to assist an enterprise in managing complex workloads. A case-driven paradigm may be used, for example, to provide a business service for a customer of an enterprise. A case file may be created to deliver the business service as a collaborative effort and to track its progress, including one or more processes that may be carried out by various team members as they collaborate to deliver the service. More generally, a case management system allows for modeling real-world business activities. Upon completion of the process or processes for a particular case, the case is generally marked as resolved and then closed. One commercially-available case management system is the IBM Case Manager product from International Business Machines Corporation.
So-called “mind mapping” systems are also known in the art, whereby automated techniques are provided to capture and organize various thoughts of a group of people as they collaborate in a brainstorming session. Generally, a mind mapping system places a central topic of the brainstorming session into a central region of a graphical user interface, and related topics or concepts that arise during the brainstorming session are then arranged in a radial pattern extending from the depiction of this central topic. The elements in a given mind map are typically arranged intuitively in the radial pattern, according to importance of the concepts represented. Elements of a mind map may also be classified into different categories or groups. One example of a commercially-available mind mapping system is known as “FreeMind”.